Arnav subconsciously held onto Khushi's arms to stabilise her as she looked up at him in bewilderment, her own hands resting against his chest. It took a moment, or several, for Khushi to get her bearings and realise exactly where she was. Khushi then tried to remove herself from his embrace but Arnav seemed to be reluctant to release her.
"I-I... Sorry. I didn't see you there." Khushi finally managed to speak after a long uncomfortable silence. Arnav, realising his position, let go of Khushi, pushing her slightly away from him.
"Obviously not." He spoke frostily. He brushed past her and entered the classroom, leaving Khushi shocked. Was Sarita right in her assumption about him? she wondered.
"Obviously not." He spoke frostily. He brushed past her and entered the classroom, leaving Khushi shocked. Was Sarita right in her assumption about him? she wondered.
Khushi entered her chemistry class late, walking into a packed classroom. All eyes were on her as she entered the class and sat on the only empty seat. As her bad luck would have it, she was sat one seat away from Arnav, his friend sat between the two of them.
"Hi, I'm Katie." She was brought to attention by the smiling girl sat on the other side of her.
"I'm Khushi."
They made small talk as their teacher was preparing the lesson and Khushi tried to avoid looking over in the direction where Arnav was sat.
"Hi, I'm Katie." She was brought to attention by the smiling girl sat on the other side of her.
"I'm Khushi."
They made small talk as their teacher was preparing the lesson and Khushi tried to avoid looking over in the direction where Arnav was sat.
After the initial introductions, they all began learning about moles. Khushi, having studied this last year, completed the examples with ease and was eager to impress her teacher with her knowledge. Once her teacher handed out some worksheets, Khushi quickly got to work. She helped Katie with the questions she struggled with. After she completed the worksheet, she noticed Arnav struggling to answer one of the questions on the sheet.
"George, what did you get for this one?" He asked his friend. Khushi cleared her throat & Arnav looked directly at her.
"What?" Khushi was shocked at how he spoke to her & was curious as to whether this was his natural manner of speaking, or a cold form of speech reserved just for her. His gaze was unnerving and Khushi had to look away to avoid the intensity of it.
"It..." She paused, unable to form a coherent sentence as she felt Arnav's unblinking eyes still on her, Arnav, getting bored of her being unable to construct a single sentence without many pauses, tried to conquer the question again alone as Khushi mentally cursed herself for speaking so shyly. She cleared her throat and tried again.
"It's not that difficult." She spoke, sounding a lot more confident than she felt. She reached over to look over his method when her hand accidentally brushed his. Khushi felt an odd sensation start at her fingertips and work its way through her body, leaving her feeling like she had been electrocuted. She rapidly moved her hand away and continued her explanation. "You can look up the molar mass of the compound using the periodic table & then you just divide the mass given by the molar mass." She explained with clarity and Arnav gave a subtle nod of approval that Khushi didn't miss. She smiled to herself, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
"George, what did you get for this one?" He asked his friend. Khushi cleared her throat & Arnav looked directly at her.
"What?" Khushi was shocked at how he spoke to her & was curious as to whether this was his natural manner of speaking, or a cold form of speech reserved just for her. His gaze was unnerving and Khushi had to look away to avoid the intensity of it.
"It..." She paused, unable to form a coherent sentence as she felt Arnav's unblinking eyes still on her, Arnav, getting bored of her being unable to construct a single sentence without many pauses, tried to conquer the question again alone as Khushi mentally cursed herself for speaking so shyly. She cleared her throat and tried again.
"It's not that difficult." She spoke, sounding a lot more confident than she felt. She reached over to look over his method when her hand accidentally brushed his. Khushi felt an odd sensation start at her fingertips and work its way through her body, leaving her feeling like she had been electrocuted. She rapidly moved her hand away and continued her explanation. "You can look up the molar mass of the compound using the periodic table & then you just divide the mass given by the molar mass." She explained with clarity and Arnav gave a subtle nod of approval that Khushi didn't miss. She smiled to herself, feeling a sense of accomplishment.
Khushi, as she expected, got every question right except for one; the one she got wrong just so happened to be the same one she had just been explaining to Arnav. Arnav looked at her, anger evident on his features.
"You did it on purpose." Khushi didn't understand what he was talking about at first.
"Did what?" She asked innocently.
"You told me the wrong answer deliberately."
"That's ridiculous! Why would I do that?" Khushi yelled out, outraged at his accusation.
"Because you want to sabotage me." Khushi had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
"Sabotage? It's one question! Also, unless you failed to notice, I got the answer wrong too." She presented her answers to him and Arnav just rolled his eyes at her and looked away in reply. Khushi was left wondering why on earth she bothered to help people if that was the thanks she'd get. At that moment Khushi promised herself that she was never going to get in Arnav's way again and would avoid him like the plague.
"You did it on purpose." Khushi didn't understand what he was talking about at first.
"Did what?" She asked innocently.
"You told me the wrong answer deliberately."
"That's ridiculous! Why would I do that?" Khushi yelled out, outraged at his accusation.
"Because you want to sabotage me." Khushi had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
"Sabotage? It's one question! Also, unless you failed to notice, I got the answer wrong too." She presented her answers to him and Arnav just rolled his eyes at her and looked away in reply. Khushi was left wondering why on earth she bothered to help people if that was the thanks she'd get. At that moment Khushi promised herself that she was never going to get in Arnav's way again and would avoid him like the plague.
"That Arnav Singh Raizada is so annoying!" Khushi ranted to Sarita as the two of them stood in the lunch queue in the common room. "Can you believe it? He accused me of trying to sabotage him. Me!" Sarita rolled her eyes at her new-found friend who had spent the best part of an hour expressing her anger at Arnav.
"Can't say I didn't warn you."
"And can you believe everyone here calls him Arnie? I mean, what's wrong with Arnav? It was quite funny, though, because our chemistry teacher's a bit deaf and she keeps calling him Argon. But still, Arnie?!"
"Khushi, maybe we should discuss something else now. I agree, he is an idiot, but it's truly not worth thinking about this much!" Khushi paused and acknowledged what Sarita was saying. She slowly nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. So what if one annoying idiot said that? I shouldn't get all worked up over it!"
"Exactly!" Just as Khushi started to think of a new topic to talk about, her new friend Anna approached them in the common room.
"Hey guys." She said with a smile.
"Anna, you won't believe what happened to me in chemistry!" Khushi started, and just like that she was off again, talking at rocket speed.
"Someone's got it bad." Sarita mumbled incoherently.
No comments:
Post a Comment